Violence Against Women In Uganda, Fighting Through Internet

This November 25 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Rape, early marriage, domestic violence … In Uganda, violence against women still abound. Organizations working to fight against this phenomenon, but the road is still long. Parliament recently retoque a bill to criminalize marital rape. 40% of young Ugandan women were married before the age of 18. On the issue of gender inequality, the country is ranked 115th out of 152 countries (UNDP). On the other hand, space to talk about the violence remains limited, which is why militancy is developing on social networks and in the form of blogs.

Rosebell Kagumire is one of the most popular bloggers in Uganda. Activist for the rights of women, nearly 30 000 people follow it on Twitter. Journalist, she explains why she turned to the blog. ” It is mainly the men who write in the opinion pages in the country. At the time, even when I was working for newspapers, I found that I had no space. For me, the blog is a place to publish my thinking and this sometimes has more impact on society. That’s why I started my blog, and now I mainly use Facebook and Twitter to really interact with people , “she explains.

Lindsey Kukunda is also an activist. Given the difficulties that women face to speak of violence against them, she decided to create a blog where they are free to send their testimony. It explains why it believes it is so difficult for Ugandan women to speak. ” We are high for not seeking conflict and we are brought up to believe that all violence perpetrated against us are our fault. So we grow up with this idea that if you walk late and something happens to you, it’s your fault. This is why it is difficult for us to talk because before that we are supposed to look at how we could have avoided this situation , “she analysis.

Violence still very present because of certain traditions, but also by lack of training of authorities, including police in charge of collecting their complaints, they say.

In Niger, early marriages still take their toll

In Niger, too, it is the women themselves who are committed to the fight against violence against women.